Mary Surratt - Lincoln Conspirator

 

Mary Surratt ran a boardinghouse on H Street in the District where the conspirators often met. Her husband died suddenly in 1862. Her son Isaac traveled south to Texas in 1861 to join the Confederate Army before the war. Her other son, John Surratt, stayed in Maryland, where he became a member of the Confederate Secret Service.

From the day she was arrested, it has been argued to death whether she was an innocent bystander or had knowledge of the plots to kidnap and assassinate Lincoln. Others argue Mary Surratt, not John Wilkes Booth, was the mastermind behind the entire conspiracy.

It would be hard to say Mary Surratt was innocent based on the evidence. The conspirators frequently met at her boarding house. Early on the day of the assassination, she rode to Surrattsville and left a package for Booth with John Lloyd. John Wilkes Booth visited her three times that day, the last, just an hour before the assassination.

She had to suspect something terrible was about to happen. But, more likely, Mary Surratt knew about Booth’s plan and kept the information to herself rather than alert the authorities.